


Memorare

by CatKing_Catkin



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Zelda, Canon Rewrite, Developing Relationship, Epic, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Heroine's Journey, Hurt Link, Injury, Introspection, Long, Memory Loss, POV Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Past Character Death, Self-Discovery, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-02-10 20:19:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatKing_Catkin/pseuds/CatKing_Catkin
Summary: Zelda was the one who almost died, in their last desperate battle against the Guardian swarms. Link was the one to carry on alone in an attempt to seal Calamity Ganon away.So it's Zelda who wakes up in the Shrine of Resurrection, one hundred years later. She has no memory, nothing but her wits, as she sets out to discover the truth about herself and repair the ruins of her kingdom. She must rally her allies, bring her Divine Beasts back to heel, and stand tall as she walks a long and lonely road in the wilderness.All the while, she hopes to save the boy trapped behind the dark castle walls, who's voice echoes in her head like a guiding star in the dark.





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> So I probably don't really know what I'm getting into, here. I've done canon rewrites before, and only some of them have ended well. But, after I took a stab at this particular plot, I knew one thing - this particular version of Zelda was really fun to write and journey along with. I hope you feel the same!

The first thing she remembered was hearing a voice calling out to her.

But then she woke submerged in water and forgot almost everything the voice had said immediately. All that stayed with her were two words -  _wake up_.

So she did. The girl sat up abruptly, drawing in a great lungful of air as she broke the surface of the water to find herself in a strange, dim chamber. She'd been laying in a strange pool filled with strange glowing water. There was one door, and a terminal of some sort set beside it.

There was something sitting on the edge of the bath, like it had been placed there with some deliberate care. It was rectangular, elaborately carved, and strangely heavy in her hands when she picked it up. Turning it over revealed a screen that lit up with a blue eye symbol. She gasped, starting back a little, but kept a tight grip on it. It was the only thing in here with her. It had to be important.

 _It's a Sheikah Slate. You can leave with it_.

She was alone, wearing nothing but a shift that hung sodden against her. Her hair was blond. That...seemed to be about it, as far as useful observations went. She couldn't remember anything else. She supposed she should be worried about that.

For now, however, it was easier to focus on the matter at hand. Specifically, if she wanted to know more, she'd have to leave. She didn't have to know her name to know that much.

The girl winced as she rose slowly from the water. Her muscles were cramped, aching, and trembling. Still, she forced herself to limp over to the terminal and examine it. The way forward was fairly obvious - there was a slot there that was roughly the size of the Sheikah Slate. She fit it in carefully, and a newly completed circuit lit up with that same bright blue light, highlighting the path between terminal and door. The door slid open, and she found herself forced to shield her eyes as light poured through. Weak as it was, it still stung far more than the cool blue glow of this room. She waited for her vision to adjust, then remembered to retrieve the Sheikah Slate from where it had popped back out of the terminal.

The hallway beyond was far less grand and curious. It was carved of rough stone, filled with a few rotting crates and barrels. She could see light - sunlight - pouring in from a gap slightly up above her.

No point in being hasty. She had to learn more, and so she started with the crates. Most were full of books or scrolls that had all but crumbled to dust, or food that had long spoiled. She eventually found some usable clothes in a chest, however. The shirt and pants didn't quite fit, but they would suffice, and there was a belt and a bag and a pair of boots to go along with them. She paused just long enough to strap the Sheikah Slate's handle to the belt, then took a deep breath and started for the rock face that separated her from the outside.

 _Good luck_ ,  _Zelda_.

She paused, a hand resting against the stone. The words echoed in her mind as clear as a bell, then, when everything else had been like a faint half-heard suggestion guiding her steps for lack of anything else. Those two simple words, however, left her feeling...warm, and wistful. The name felt right.

"Thank you," Zelda whispered, and began to climb. It was a short distance to go, but by the time she reached the top her shoulders and knees were still shaking a bit. Everything hurt a little just to move. How long had she been asleep?

There was only one way to find out.

The girl walked towards the light. Yet as she felt the warmth on her face, walking suddenly wasn't enough. Despite her aching legs, despite her uncertainty, the girl began to run. She ran for the light, for the outside, for answers. Then all at once she burst out into a vast, green world. Still she ran towards a much larger cliff, one that towered above the world, and only there did she stop. Panting lightly, the girl shaded her eyes against the sun and looked out over everything.

Almost everything she could see was green or ruin. An enormous ruined temple sprawled to her far right, while smaller ruins dotted the hills and valleys around her. Forests sprawled carelessly into fields, ponds of various sizes dotted the landscape. The only variations in the otherwise verdant landscape were a jagged snowcapped mountain on her left, and a blasted, barren field far off to the north. Yet it was all so amazingly, achingly beautiful as to make her gasp, and make her eyes sting with overwhelmed tears.

She didn't know how long she stood there, gazing at the world she had forgotten. When she finally did turn away, it was to realize that she wasn't quite as alone as she'd thought. There was a path leading down this hill, out into the ruins and fields. Alongside that path, safe beneath an overhang, a fire was burning and an old man was resting comfortably beside it.

She wondered if he'd seen her. Then he looked up at her and nodded and answered that question handily. Zelda forced herself to raise a hand stiffly in greeting, before she slowly started towards him. No need to rush. She had just as much right to be wandering around here as he did to be building fires - or at least, so she hoped.

She stepped over a few fallen branches, before picking up one she liked the look of and confirming that she liked the heft of it too. She passed by a tree with its branches laden with apples, and had a much easier time clambering up to secure a few to stow in her bag. So by the time she finally made her way down to the old man by the fire, Zelda was armed and at least a little fed, and so feeling better about everything in general.

Of course, once she got close enough to properly see his face, Zelda wondered if she'd had any reason to worry at all. The old man smiled kindly at her from beneath his hood, and motioned with his staff towards the fire. She could smell something pleasant, and that only quickened her steps.

"Hello there," he said. "It's not often I see others wandering around these parts. Are you a traveller, by any chance?"

Zelda took the unspoken invitation to sit with a grateful smile. As she did so, she discovered the source of the pleasant smell - the old man had skewered some apples on sticks, and set them to roasting by the heat of the fire.

As for his words, there didn't seem to be any reason to lie, and so she didn't. "I'm not sure, to be perfectly honest."

"Oh? I did see you walk out of that strange temple over there."

"Yes, I did. I woke up there, but I'm afraid I can't remember what led to me winding up in there." She smiled apologetically, before wondering what she was apologizing for. "My name is Zelda." She had to fight not to add  _I think_. "Are you a traveler? I would be grateful for anything you could tell me about this place."

She thought she saw the old man's expression flicker, very briefly. But when he spoke again, his voice hadn't changed a bit, so she wondered if she'd just imagined it.

"I live here, as it happens. I can tell you a great many things - but I think you might find more of the answers you need by turning to that Sheikah Slate there."

"Really?" Zelda freed the slate from her belt and turned her full attention to it. She thought she saw the old man reach out, but she waved him away without really thinking about it. There was no need for him to trouble himself. This was her device, or at least it had been meant to be hers'. Surely that meant she must be capable of figuring it out in short order.

Sure enough, a few curious taps on the screen revealed far more than just the strange eye symbol. It did indeed seem to be some sort of portable information device, though some of the menus and categories were in a language unfamiliar to her. One, however, was unmistakably a map. When Zelda brought it up, however, she made a disappointed sound to realize that the contents were either empty or damaged - all but two points of light, a short distance apart.

"Well a map wouldn't be much good if it didn't show my location," she murmured. "So one of these must be me, and another...some sort of destination?" Only then did she think to look up at the old man again, suddenly embarrassed to have been sitting here mumbling to herself all this time. Her fears proved groundless, however. The old man only nodded at her encouragingly, his smile still so benign.

"That sounds about right to me," he said. "Judging by that frown on your face, it seems like the slate might not be working quite as intended, hm? Perhaps that destination is a place you can go to in order to repair it."

Zelda nodded. "I can only hope so. It's certainly worth a look." She stood up, dusted herself off, and gazed off down the path. "I suppose there's no time to waste, then. Thank you for your assistance, but I must be going."

He wished her luck and offered her a baked apple to see her on her way. Zelda accepted the offer happily, and set off with her snack in one hand and her slate in the other. Once she got moving, it was easy to see which dot represented her, and so just as easy to see where she had to go.

Or at least that was what she thought, for a while.

*  *  *

Curiosity got the better of Zelda in short order, and her wanderings took her up towards the ruined temple. Curiosity got the better of her again, and she paused to poke through a few of the ruined houses at the base of it. Moss was growing over the shattered structures, and in one of them she found a healthy tree growing up among the tumble of broken stone and ceramic that once might have formed a roof. Whatever had ruined these houses must have happened countless years ago, and so most of what was left inside was useless to her. However, her search did eventually turn up a pair of sturdy pants, still in remarkably good condition. She was just working on tucking them into her bag among the apples, intending to change later, when she heard footsteps and froze.

Her first thought was that the old man might have followed her. Then her mind caught up with her ears, and she knew that couldn't be the case. The steps she hard were shuffling, ungainly things in a way that couldn't just be due to age. More to the point, she heard snuffling and  _grunting._ Whatever was coming towards her sounded piglike and bestial.

Zelda took a deep breath, tried to steady her shaking hands, and hefted her branch in anticipation. She had just enough time to contemplate panicking before the thing came shuffling up the path, nosing around. She saw immediately that "piglike and bestial" had been fair assessments of this creature. It had a flat face with a broad snout and a wide mouth that lolled open with its tongue hanging out. It was dressed in little more than scraps of leather and dragged a much better club than hers' behind it, as it made its slumped and ungainly way along.

Just as she had finished taking in details, it looked up and saw her. Zelda forced herself to smile. Even if it was ugly, maybe it was friendly. "Ah, hello?"

The creature let out a piercing shriek, hefted its club, and charged.

Looking back, Zelda didn't remember a lot about what happened next. She swung her tree branch wildly at the monster's head. It swung slightly less wildly at her, and at one point she felt pain explode across her shoulders and back. But mostly, she supposed later that her own panicked stumbling and swerving must have saved her from worse injuries, until at last she hit the monster hard enough over the head that her tree branch snapped in half and it fell to the ground, clearly stunned.

Her gaze went to the club, rolling across the ground where it had been dropped from her opponent's nerveless fingers. Zelda picked it up, and swung it twice more at the stunned monster. Twice more did the job. The end result was a dead creature on the ground, a new club in her possession, and a sick feeling in her stomach. She was proud of herself for not succumbing to the urge to double over and be sick. She just reminded herself again and again that she'd had to do it, as she retreated hastily from the house and continued on up the hill.

Her resolve and discomfort were both tested twice more along the way. The end result was two more dead creatures, one broken club, and two new clubs to replace them. She hung one off her belt, kept the other tightly in hand, and told herself again that if it was them or her, she was not about to die until she found answers. It was easier to believe it, and at least the sight surrounding the temple provided a more than ample distraction.

"What in the world..." Zeld gasped, staring around at the numerous broken... _things_  that surrounded the temple. She didn't know how to describe them - like turtle shells with turrets mounted on top, except some still possessed the ruins of long, sinewy legs that ended in gruesomely clawed feet.

Had they been protecting this temple, when whatever calamity from so long ago had ravaged it?

Or had they been that very calamity?

The bodies were so twisted, broken, and moss-covered that she couldn't tell. Zelda did, however, creep a little nearer to some of them for further investigation. She was able to salvage a few parts from inside that looked to be in remarkably, bizarrely good shape. They would bear further investigation, later. For now, she really did want to look inside the temple.

It was quiet inside, and the hall's vastness even seemed to drink in and muffle the sounds from outside. The space was dominated by an enormously tall statue. Its features could still just barely be made out as a beatifically smiling woman. Zelda felt her gaze fixed on it, felt her feet carrying her as though of their own volition into the temple - past crumbling, ruined pews and over broken stained glass, up the stairs to the dais that stood before the statue.

She didn't know why she did what she did next. Zelda just knew it felt right. She knelt before the statue, clasped her hands before her, and whispered a prayer. One sprung easily to her lips, a prayer for safety and guidance. She suddenly remembered it as clearly as she had recalled her own name, and she felt a surge of warmth and peace in her chest as a result.

When Zelda looked up at the smiling woman, she had the inescapable sense that the statue was looking back at her, listening and smiling in approval. She smiled back, stood up, and dusted herself off.

She also didn't feel the least bit ashamed to go digging through the wreckage until she found a sturdy bow and a few arrows. She knew that the woman, whoever she was, would have wanted her to have these. Zelda didn't remember how good of an archer she was, but she knew that every little bit would help going forward.

*  *  *

The sun was starting to hang low in the sky, casting a ruddy light over the landscape as Zelda finally came upon her destination. She held the slate in one hand and carried a rusty sword in the other, just in case. The landscape so far had proven lousy with monsters, and she was starting to tire out all over again. She could only hope that her destination might prove a safe one, or else her first day back in the world might well be her last.

Her path led her beneath a rocky overhang. A pedestal awaited her there, much like the one that had let her leave the room she'd woken up in. The faint blue glow emanating from the top showed the way for her easily, even as the overhang blotted out the last of the sunlight.

Unlocking the secrets of this plinth, however, proved harder than leading the room had been. There was no quiet voice to guide her, and even when she fitted the slate into the slot that was open for it, nothing happened.

Zelda frowned, growing frustrated. She tried other things to see if she could replicate the reaction from earlier. She tried turning the slate around, upside down. She tried examining the connection points within the base, to see if she could determine where else the circuit might be damaged or what exactly it connected to. She scrolled through the few options in the Sheikah Slate that weren't blurred or unreadable. She tried pressing the slate at random against various other spots on the pillar. She tried delaying its insertion and removal into the circuit altogether. Finally, in a fit of agitation she gave the pedestal a good, solid kick.

"You have secrets!" she yelled at it, too angry to feel foolish for doing so. "And I have already had quite enough of secrets! Whatever you are I am going to figure you out and make...you... _open!_ "

She punctuated the words by banging her fist down hard on the pedestal, inches away from the Sheikah Slate that rested within it. Almost immediately, the stand started to glow. In the same instant, so did her hand.

Zelda yelped and stumbled backwards, which resulted in her tripping on a loose stone and going sprawling. She barely felt the impact, too busy staring transfixed at her own hand. It  _was_  glowing, though the light was bright and golden rather than soft and blue. She had to squint through the glare, but Zelda could also make out something else. A symbol had appeared on the back of her hand, the source of the glow, but she didn't have time to make it out properly before both sources of light went dark again.

"Wh-what in the world...?" she whispered fearfully, staring from herself to the pedestal and back again. "What's wrong with-"

She didn't have time to ponder answers for much longer than that, however. Zelda was cut off with a shriek as she felt the ground start to tremble beneath her. She scrambled to her feet, staring around frantically for the source of the tremors. In the end, the only change she saw was the Sheikah Slate. Words had appeared on the screen.

 _Please watch out for falling rocks_.

She might have laughed at the absurdity of it all, but the shaking was growing more intense. Zelda didn't really see a way she could watch out for falling rocks from under here. In the end, she clung to the pedestal and sheltered her head as best she could beneath it. It wasn't much, but it proved to be enough, as the world fell to pieces around her.

Zelda felt the ground lurch, and then all she knew was motion and noise for a long while. When she finally opened her eyes and dared to lift her head, there was nothing but sky all around her. When she got slowly to her feet, leaning on the plinth for support all the while, she saw the world spreading out beneath her.

 


	2. The Spirit Orbs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most chapters probably won't be this long, but I had a bit of a buffer ready and I figured you all probably wanted to get the business of the Spirit Orbs over in one go. 
> 
> I'm shooting for updates once a week, otherwise. I know this is going to be a lengthy project no matter what, and I figure weekly updates will be my best bet for both staying consistent for you guys and not burning out on my end.

She was suddenly at the top of a tall tower, and saw that she had woken up on top of an enormous plateau jutting up from the landscape. From up here, she was afforded an unparalleled view for miles. She saw mountains to her right and a vast desert to the left. She saw the sparkle of the sun on the ocean and the glitter of impossibly distant snow. Yet what most drew her eye was exactly in front of her, seeming so close from this height that she could reach out and touch it.

There was a castle, grand and ornate and so very dark. Twisted spurs of rock jutted out of the landscape around it like knives from an open wound, and a malevolent miasma surrounded it. Even from here, she could tell it was a magnificent structure. Yet as she looked at it, Zelda felt a chill of dread creeping over her heart.

Then she started to feel something else. Zelda realized it was like her vision was pinned to it, and the more she stared the more she felt like she was falling, and then flying - flying across the miles between here and there, flying over the landscape and closer to that place, until she could almost see inside the distant windows.

Until she could almost see someone looking back at her. And, in the deep, dark shadows within, she felt _something_ stirring.

 _Find me_.

Zelda gasped, and suddenly she was back in her body, back on top of the tower. Her gaze remained fixed on the castle, but everything felt real again and she was free to move. So she did, dashing to the edge of the tower in a fit of mad desperation and calling out: "I will! I'll find you, I swear it! But please, please - who are you?!"

For she had felt two presences within that place. One had been nothing but malice and evil. There were no other words to describe it. Inside that palace was something terrible beyond measure that should never see the light of day.

But there was something - _someone_ \- else in there. That voice she'd heard then was the voice that had first woken her. She knew it as she knew so little else. It was a voice that left her feeling warm and sure and confident, and yet she felt tears of hopeless frustration in her eyes as she tried and tried to remember who it belonged to.

"Hello down there!"

Zelda flinched so hard that she almost fell. She looked around wildly, and then finally thought to look up. She gasped at the sight of the old man above her, gliding easily down with the air of some sort of...contraption? It looked like a pair of brightly painted wings of wood and cloth. She was instantly curious about it, but tempered that curiosity with a deliberate effort of will. What mattered most was what the old man was doing up here, and why he had followed her.

She forced a smile on her face and went to meet him. "Hello there! Fancy meeting you up here!"

The old man folded the wooden wings and strapped them onto his back. "Pardon the interruption. But I just had to come and check on you, once I saw that you had found the tower."

"Oh? You weren't interrupting anything. But I am curious as to the fact that you don't seem too terribly surprised to find a tower here now."

The old man waved a hand dismissively. "I've lived here for longer than you might think. Long enough to see a great many changes in this land." He leaned a little on his staff and tilted his head a bit, apparently the better to meet her eyes past the heavy hood he wore. "As for interrupting...I only thought you'd looked as though you heard a voice."

There was no denying it, not really, not with how she'd let herself shout after being so overcome. She was still suspicious that the old man had just so happened to turn up right where she was, right at this moment. But Zelda forcibly reminded herself that he had been nothing but helpful so far. She didn't have many options on who to trust as it was.

"I thought I did. It might only have been the wind. But please, there's something more important I wanted to ask you." She turned, and gestured back towards the glowering bulk of the castle. "Can you tell me more about that place there?"

The old man followed where she was pointing. She saw his expression darken almost immediately. "You really don't know?"

"I believe I told you, I don't remember much of anything about anywhere," Zelda answered with perfect politeness. "If you can't help me find those answers, then please excuse me while I find someone who can."

She started to walk off, and was glad that the old man spoke up at the same instant that Zelda realized she had no idea how to get down from this tower. "Please, young lady, I didn't mean to imply I would keep any secrets from you. Of course, I can tell you more about this castle. I want to help you, however I can. Would you mind having a seat?"

"I wouldn't mind at all," Zelda said, and sat down right on the floor of the tower to prove it. The old man settled down laboriously beside her, and Zelda felt her head soften a little with pity at the sight of him. Her curiosity was stronger, however, and so she folded her hands in her lap and waited patiently for the old man to begin his explanation.

"That castle used to be the seat of the royal family of Hyrule. That's the kingdom you're in right now, at the moment - Hyrule, not that it matters very much now. One hundred years ago, a Great Calamity swept this land. It was only thanks to the bravery of the princess and her champions that anything was left at all to rebuild."

"A calamity? What sort?"

The old man pointed over her shoulder, back at the castle. Zelda looked, and gasped to realize that the dark miasma around the castle wasn't just swirling aimlessly like a stormcloud, but taking form, taking shape.

It had a face. It had an enormous, twisted, monstrous, _evil_ face. As she watched in horror, the dark mist started to swirl away from the castle, up towards the sky, and she saw the visage of a massive, scarred boar within.

Then there was a flash of blinding light, and when her vision cleared, the face was gone like it had never been there. There was only black smog surrounding the castle, and the evil red light from within the windows had faded to a sullen glow once more.

"What on earth...?" she murmured, squinting across the distance once more.

"I assume that you caught full sight of that atrocity swarming around the castle. That...is the Calamity Ganon," said the old man solemnly. "It brought ruin and corruption upon the kingdom of Hyrule 100 years ago. It appeared suddenly...destroying everything in its path. Leaving countless innocents in its wake. Over the last century, the kindgom's purest symbol, Hyrule Castle, has been able to contain that evil. But just barely. There it festers, building its strength for the moment it will unleash its blight upon the land once again. It would appear that moment is fast approaching. I must ask you, young lady..."

He looked straight at her. Zelda met his gaze without flinching. She knew what his question would be before he asked it. She also knew what her reply would be, even if she hadn't known this place's name until a few moments ago.

"Do you intend to make your way to that castle?" he asked.

"I do," Zelda answered.

He sighed, long and tired, and it was as if some strange spell had been broken. Suddenly, he was only an old man again. "I thought so. Here, on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs, with no way off or down. If you were to try and jump, well...no death could be more certain or foolish. Of course, if you had a paraglider like me, that would be quite another story!"

"If you could let me know where you acquired a paraglider like yours', I could go about fixing that," Zelda said sweetly.

"In fact, I could be persuaded to pass mine along. It's quite a useful device, but there isn't so much use for it if you don't intend to leave the Plateau. I'm quite comfortable here, myself."

"What would you want in exchange, then?"

The old man pointed again, but lower down this time. Zelda saw that he was pointing across the distance at the base of the tower. She saw a fissure in the earth, half filled with water. She saw multiple Bokoblin camps, swarming with Bokoblins. She wondered when she had started to remember that they were called Bokoblins - perhaps hearing the boy's voice again had shaken something else loose.

Then she saw a strange structure, in the middle of it all. It was circular, with a cylindrical structure like a chimney rising from the top. A bright orange glow lit the top of it.

"You want the building?" Zelda asked, shading her eyes to regard it.

"There is a treasure within the building. It's held my fascination for quite some time, but I've never been able to find a way in. If you can puzzle that out, and find a way to bring me that treasure, then I would be happy to trade you my paraglider."

Zelda nodded without looking at him. "That seems manageable enough. All right!"

"And if you get lost, I might advise giving that map of yours' another look. You might find it a touch more useful than you did before."

Zelda did so, pulling out her Sheikah Slate and scrolling to the map option. Once she did, she was delighted to see that the old man was correct. Though huge swathes of emptiness still remained, a small section around her had been filled out with quite a detailed map. She simply zoomed in enough to read what place names existed and pick out what landmarks she could. It would do, for now.

The old man directed her to a platform just a little way beneath the edge of the floor on which they stood. From there, the tower itself was made of a meshlike twisting of metal that let her easily climb back down to the ground. Zelda thanked him for his help, and then set off.

It had been plain enough from up there that there were too many "Bokoblins" for her to fight through, even armed with a rusted sword. The situation wasn't any more encouraging as she approached, especially since the ground here was barren and free of much of anything to hide behind. She considered waiting until nightfall to try and sneak past, but didn't like the idea of making her way back through these badlands to the old man in the dark.

In the end, Zelda swam across the small lake that separated her from the strange temple. There were broken rocks and jagged, ruined pillars that she could hold on to and rest against when she needed it, and the sand on the other side was wet and easy to grab hold of. There was a camp right next to her, however - she could see a Bokoblin on a watchtower, jutting up against the sky.

In the end, Zelda took a desperate gamble. She drew her bow, fumbled an arrow into place, and took aim.

The first arrow missed, the second arrow thudded into the floor of the watchtower. The Bokoblin obviously knew there was someone attacking him by then, and started to raise the war horn he wore around his waist. Zelda was attempting to shoot it out of his hand, and she was convinced that it was nothing but sheer, blind luck that led to the arrow thudding between the monster's eyes instead.

It fell with barely a grunt. Zelda swallowed, poked her head up over the edge of the pit, then bolted as quickly and quietly as she could for the temple door. No one noticed her, no one shot at her, and she stumbled to a breathless stop in front of the strange building.

From there, she surveyed the situation, and wondered if she'd missed something. It looked as though the building was managed by the same mechanism that had overseen the tower she'd just brought up from the earth. Zelda could only hope the results here weren't so dramatic. Seeing no other way forward, however, she thumped her hand against the activation plinth and tried to make herself angry.

This time, the sight of the three glowing triangles appearing on the back of her hand only made her flinch. This time, the reaction was indeed much less dramatic. The plinth lit up blue, then that light traveled down to the steps she stood on, and from there up to the door and throughout the carvings that she could now see were etched throughout the building. Soon the structure was entirely lit up blue, and the door slid open. Zelda stepped inside without hesitation, partly driven by curiosity and partly by the desire to move fast before she was seen. Her initial suspicions were confirmed - there was hardly any room at all inside, barely enough for her to stand.

Then the floor beneath her started to move, and Zelda muffled a yelp as she was slowly lowered beneath the earth.

The sight that greeted her when the lift came to a stop was breathtaking. An entire, enormous, elaborate structure was here beneath the temple, beneath the ground. It reminded her of the shrine she'd woken up in, but it had clearly been built to a purpose. Zelda took in the sights around her with awe, before she stepped forward, ready to unravel this puzzle.

A voice spoke up. Rather than the boy's voice from before, which had seemed to come from within her head, this voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, whispering from the walls.

_"To you who set foot in this shrine, I am Oman Au. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial."_

Zelda swallowed, and nodded. So there would be trial, a test. The old man had warned her as much. She supposed it only made sense. Whoever had built this place and hidden this treasure must only have wanted someone worthy to retrieve it. She intended to prove that she qualified.

There was another activation plinth, set against one wall. This one had a slot for her Sheikah Slate, and so Zelda inserted the device and watched the screen anxiously. Soon enough, words appeared there

 _Magnesis Rune engaged_.

"Magnesis Rune...?"

When Zelda retrieved the slate, she saw that yet more of its functionality had been repaired. It had the capacity for more runes, but for now the newly added Magnesis was marked by a magnet symbol. She tapped it curiously, and nearly dropped the slate as a beam of light shot out and took hold of a discarded slab of metal in the middle of the floor.

Then Zelda recovered her wits, and stared fixedly at it. Without taking her gaze away, she moved her fingers this way and that on the screen, and took note of how the light dragged the hunk of iron to follow her movements. She looked away, then, across the temple to a glowing blue square in the distance. It looked unmistakably like a finish line, but for now the way was blocked by deep gaps in the floor that led to churning waters below. The walls looked much, much less climbable than those of the tower had.

She felt the pieces coming together in her head, and smiled.

There was no denying that there was something nerve-wracking about dragging around enormous, tree-sized chunks of metal to serve as bridges, especially since it was hard to judge how distances translated from gesture to action. Yet there was something exhilarating, too - in knowing that she was mastering this power, in knowing that she was solving this puzzle. As Zelda stepped off her makeshift bridge at the other end of the shrine, she let out a whoop of delight that echoed throughout the room. "I did it!"

There was a figure waiting there to greet her, sitting on a small pedestal, its hands cupped before it. Zelda's good mood diminished greatly when she realized the figure was a corpse, ancient beyond measure, withered into nothing more than papery skin and brittle bones. Its face, whatever it had looked like in life, was covered by a black veil in death. There was an eye symbol painted on it, the same one that was carved into the back of her Sheikah Slate.

The voice came again. This time, Zelda barely had it in her to be surprised that the corpse was speaking to her. It should have been terrifying, she knew. Yet just like when the boy spoke to her, she felt reassured instead. This voice spoke with wisdom, knowledge, and approval.

_"Your resourcefulness in overcoming this trial speaks to the promise of a hero. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I bestow upon you this Spirit Orb."_

Light took shape in its cupped hands, until Zelda saw a large purple orb appear. It floated through the air between them, she reached out to grab it, and then there was a flash of light. When it cleared, she held nothing, but felt a weight on her chest.

"Oh dear," she murmured. "I hope he'll understand."

Then she blinked, and stumbled when she opened her eyes and found herself back outside, standing on the stairs before the temple. The door was shut. The weight remained.

The sun was also setting. There would be time to consider the strangeness of the afternoon on her way back to the tower, so Zelda set off once more.

*  *  *

Thankfully, the old man was still waiting for her when she climbed back up. Thankfully, he was understanding about the disappearance of the temple's treasure.

Zelda was much less thankful when he refused to give her the paraglider.

"We had a deal."

"I never said there was only one treasure to retrieve."

"Yes, you did! You specifically did! 'If you can puzzle that out, and find a way to bring me that treasure, then I would be happy to trade you my paraglider.'"

"Did I say that? I can't quite remember, I'm afraid. My memory isn't what it was. In any case, if I did say that, what I meant is that I would be happy to trade you my paraglider if you can bring me the four treasures of the Great Plateau. They're all held in similar temples to the one you just bested. I'm sure they won't give you any further trouble."

"That isn't the point!"

"It is, I'm afraid. That one orb won't do you very much good on its own."

"What do you mean?"

He wouldn't tell her any more until she brought him the other three orbs, however. At least he showed her how to use the scope on her Sheikah Slate to get a better look around the landscape and find them, however.

"Is there anything this can't do?" Zelda murmured, as she cast around. There was one shrine high up on a snowy mountain, one up a seemingly sheer rock face. She just couldn't find the other.

"The Sheikah were a brilliant people. Their technology helped bring Hyrule to prominence millenia ago. She heard the old man sigh sadly beside her. "Yet their knowledge has also brought so much ruin, in our time. The Slate will be an invaluable device to you, Zelda. Use it however you can. But always remember that it is a tool."

Zelda frowned. "I didn't intend to forget. But I have to make use of every tool at my disposal, at the moment. I don't exactly have many other options."

The sun was starting to set, which should have made it easier to spot the last temple. Zelda started mentally marking out a grid pattern she could follow. If the old man was determined to offer nothing but platitudes without four Spirit Orbs to trade, she really would have to master thinking for herself.

Ah, there it was. She finally spotted the orange light down lower than either of the other two had been. There were more ruins at the very edges of the Great Plateau, built right up against the shattered walls that had bordered it in some long ago age before the Calamity. Zelda put a pin down to mark her spot, then put the Slate away. She felt the old man's eyes on her, but turned away. "I won't get far tonight. I'll be resting up here until morning, then I'll be off."

"If you like," said the old man. "I also have a cabin, down in the forest over there." He pointed to a dark cluster of trees at the base of the sheer cliff face she had noticed earlier. "I keep a fire going, and I do have some space. If you wanted to follow me, I could offer you a safer place to rest."

It was the mention of a fire that convinced her. She had apples to eat, and some eggs she had stolen from a bird's nest on the walk back here, but the thought of spending her first night back in the world warm was enough to get past Zelda's reservations. She climbed back down the tower, and looked up as she heard the wings of his paraglider open up above. He soared past overhead, and the lantern he wore at his side made him look like a shooting star, falling down to earth.

It gave her more than enough light to follow him by, at least.

*  *  *

Zelda fell asleep in front of the old man's fire, and when she woke up the old man was gone. That was strange and disorienting and unpleasant. She couldn't remember a lot of things when she first woke up, among them her own name. How could she be expected to sure that the old man had even really existed at all?

Fortunately, as she was forcing herself to eat the last of her apples in front of the smoldering embers of last night's fires, Zelda saw movement off in the distance, and the gleam of light on a blade. She had to watch a little longer before her sleep addled mind managed to pick apart that it was the old man, chopping wood. She felt better at the sight of him, and that was enough to get her up, on her feet, and off marching towards him and the cliffs behind him.

"Good morning!" she called to him, once he'd set the axe down.

He looked over at her and chuckled warmly. "Oho! Fancy that! Awake at last!"

"What are you doing?"

"I thought this tree here would make for some good firewood. However...getting a tree to fall exactly where you want it to is quite an art. The trick is to turn your hips so that they face where you want the tree to land." He mimed a swing to her, apparently to show off the technique. Zelda couldn't imagine she would have much cause to need a tree to fall anywhere specific. She thanked him for his instruction anyway - then she took her leave of him, walked a few feet, and saw that the way between her and the edge of the cliffs was blocked by a narrow but perilously deep ravine.

Zelda dropped a rock down it, waited until she heard it land, then got up after about thirty seconds when she never actually heard it land. Then she went back to the old man and asked to borrow his axe.

If she'd ever had the muscles for chopping wood, they'd long since atrophied while she'd been asleep for however long. Sweat was soon pouring down her face, stinging her eyes, and her shoulders were screaming for mercy. Zelda had to stop and rest halfway through, and cursed herself for her weakness as she did so.

Even once she got down off this wretched plateau, the way to Hyrule Castle would obviously be a long one. She had to find some way to get energy back quickly if she needed it. Here and now, however, she simple gritted her teeth, got back to her feet, and finished the job. The moment of the tree's fall was a nervewracking one, as she wondered all the while if she'd calculated correctly. Fortunately she had - the log fell neatly across the gap, and the impact badly startled the two Bokoblins she'd seen loafing around on the other side. They were probably scouts from the camp she could see down the hill to her right. Zelda made sure they didn't make it back to report on her.

The climb fortunately didn't prove as treacherous as she'd feared. What had looked like a sheer cliff face in the distance was in fact dotted with ledges and pitted with cracks that served most adequately as handholds. More interestingly still, there were a great many purple mushrooms growing right out of the rock face. Picking them was a perilous task, but curiosity got the better of Zelda once more. Soon her pack was bulging with them, as she finally reached the top of the ledge.

Owa Daim's shrine provided yet more to be curious about, in the form of a new rune loaded into the Sheikah Slate. This one was called "Stasis". It proved especially fiddly to work with, even within the shrine. So once she appeared outside again, Zelda took a moment to test it out again with an especially large rock on the plateau with her that she aimed at the distant Bokoblin camp. Once she was satisfied of her aim, Zelda clambered back down the cliff again and headed off towards another pin on her map. There was still plenty of daylight, and one of the other shrines didn't look so far away.

The ruins she arrived at reminded her of the great temple up on the hill, though on a much smaller scale. There were even other ruined mechanical constructs scattered around, broken and silent and mysterious.

What was even more mysterious was how one began to light up as she approached.

Zelda stopped, and stared, head tilted and heart staring to race. Red light spread all throughout the etchings on the thing's surface. It's head rose up from its body, like a turtle coming out of its shell. A brighter light came on in the center of its, for lack of a better word, "face". Zelda stepped back, as she realized that it was looking right at her. It could _see._

It could do more than that. An incessant, whining beep started to fill the air, coming from the thing. A red dot appeared in the grass between them and zipped along it towards her. Zelda looked from it to the enemy, then leaped behind a broken bit of wall. The patch of grass where she had been standing exploded in ash and flame.

Poking her head out again only made the monster gear up to attack again, though Zelda was quick to retreat. She tried firing arrows at it until her quiver was empty, but it didn't even seem to notice. Most of them bounced off its strange ceramic body, and even the two that landed in its eye only made it halt for a moment before it recalibrated itself and took aim again.

"I can't do it," she whispered when she was safely back in hiding, pressing her hands over her thudding heart. "I can't."

But the shrine was in there, unmistakably. Her pin marked it as being through this maze of broken stone.

She would just have to find another way around. The creature could see, but it couldn't move. If she was out of sight, she was out of mind.

Zelda crept away cautiously, feeling herself tense as she passed any openings in the rock wall. Finally, once she had put a few yards between her and the creature, she started looking for another way in. The walls here were thick and overgrown with ivy. Perhaps she could climb up?

She was had barely found a good handhold in the greenery before she heard a grinding of ancient machinery off to her left. Zelda dropped down back down to the ground and broke for more cover.

She was eventually able to determine that there were three of those mechanical monstrosities guarding this place. They couldn't move, but their heads could rotate so that they could see all around them. So far, keeping herself out of one's line of sight was only putting her in another's line of fire. She had yet to find a door into the abbey, and climbing the walls would leave her terrifying vulnerable for what seemed like an eternity when laser blasts were involved.

In fact, after a near-complete patrol of the perimeter, Zelda could see only one possibility remaining.

The Great Plateau was bordered on all sides by a great, broken wall. Jagged remnants of it stabbed up from the ground like teeth, and between those remnants there was nothing but sand and scattered stones. It was misty around the edge, however. She doubted she would be able to see out, once she was in the thick of it, and she had no idea if those things would be able to see in. More to the point, if she put a foot wrong, she could fall and die so foolishly, just as the old man had warned.

But the space between the ruins and the edge was so narrow that she doubted one of those monsters could fit. And if she could get around to the back and climb over, she might be able to get to the shrine without ever worrying about them.

Zelda circled around as wide as she dared without running into more Bokoblins. Then she took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and walked into the mist. Her pace was determined at first, but slowed as the world around her slowly went grey and indistinct. She stopped when she could hear wind up ahead, and slowly extended a foot.

Nothing but open air was beneath her. Zelda gulped, and turned carefully to the right.

She walked along the edge, until she saw a broken spire rising up ahead. Climbing over it was a breathlessly tense affair, her hands scrabbling for purchase that she couldn't properly see. Zelda finally cleared the top and held on tight to avoid tumbling right back down again. From here, however, she could see the shadowy bulk of the ruins rising up to her left. She kept her gaze fixed on it as she clambered carefully back down, and walked on until she could lay a hand on the curtain wall.

Climbing up this wall was an even more nervewracking affair. She could hear the mechanical monsters all around her, but the noises they were making were the ones she had learned meant searching, not discovery. Once on top of the wall, Zelda was even able to see their harsh red glow cutting through the fog, but she didn't spare more than a glance before dropping carefully down on the other side.

Ja Baij shrine granted her Sheikah Slate the ability to create two different types of remote bombs. Zelda toyed bitterly for a moment with the idea of razing the shrine to the ground and trying to bury its malevolent inhabitants in rubble, but instead she made her way back carefully along the edge and through the mist and called herself lucky.

The fourth and final shrine gave her the most trouble of all. Zelda's marker led her towards a snowy peak that she could see rising up behind the old temple. She could feel the air growing colder and colder as she drew near, and was so distracted that she almost missed the Bokoblins camped out by a stone archway leading up into the mountain's foothills. She overheard them grunting and chattering to each other just in time, however, and hastily ducked down behind a grassy hillock to watch them.

There were three, and they were gathered around a fire. What drew her attention most, however, was what they were cooking on that fire. The smell of meat roasting made her mouth water. It was hardly a complicated meal, but after subsisting on apples and mushrooms since first waking, it seemed like a feast.

All thoughts of sneaking past flew from her mind. She wanted that food.

One Bokoblin fell quite nicely for her trick, which was to charge straight at her when she stood up and shouted. Fortunately, he charged right over an edge that was hidden by the thick grass and a dangerous bend in the path. With their guard dispatched, Zelda crawled carefully over to the camp. She dispatched the second Bokoblin with a forceful clubbing over the head, and tossed one of her newfound bombs at the other, which served to subject him to the same fate as the first.

Zelda couldn't remember what a lot of things had tasted like, but decided right then and there - as she settled down before her stolen fire to dig in to her hard-earned meal - that nothing could ever have tasted as good as this.

An even more curious sight greeted her once she'd filled her stomach enough to focus on her surroundings again. These Bokoblins seemed to have been keeping some sort of garden, and it was filled with an abundance of red peppers. Zelda tentatively bit the tip off of one and found it hot enough to leave her breathless.

An idea came to her, as she nibbled cautiously and stared up at the snowy peaks. Zelda found a cooking pot the Bokoblins must have stolen from somewhere, and cooked the peppers in their own juices until the steam made her eyes water. Then she poured the resulting concoction in her stolen canteen, and took a long swig.

The result left her doubled over and coughing, but it also left a fire blazing in her chest that spread all throughout her fingers and toes. It probably wasn't the healthiest way to take on the cold and snow, but it would have to suffice. As she took the first few steps under the stone archway, her feet crunching on snow, Zelda was pretty sure she could manage this. She just had to remember to not linger.

Of course, the monsters lurking here made that as difficult as everything else in her life had been since waking up. Strange, jelly-like creatures popped up out of the snow and rolled towards her. Shooting or bashing them only made them explode with a blast of icy air that chilled her even through her makeshift potion, so Zelda soon found that it was simply a better idea to run past them. There were more Bokoblins here, too. She supposed their tough hide must have offered them some protection from the cold, and they had adapted to the point of knowing to push rocks and enormous snowballs down the hills and peaks towards her. She managed to steal a shield from one and used it to protect her head on the way up.

As she clambered up another peak, and saw a shadow waiting for her, Zelda was already reflexively swinging a club as she came up and over the edge. Some snow must have gotten in her eyes, however, because suddenly there was only empty air to greet her swing.

"Oho! We meet again!" said the old man, who was just as suddenly standing right next to her. Zelda yelped and nearly stumbled off the hill. The old man chuckled and stepped back to give her space to steady herself.

"What are you doing here?!" Zelda gasped, once she'd recovered her wits enough to speak. "How did you even get up here? I haven't seen you since this morning!"

"I told you, I've lived on this plateau a great long while. I know my way around better than you ever could." He tilted his head and smiled at her from beneath his hood, one hand on his lantern. The other went to a pack he carried at his side.

"You did well to make it this far without the proper clothing. Please take this warm doublet as a reward for your tenacity." With that, he pulled out a ragged bundle of cloth and offered it to her. Zelda took it, shook it out, and confirmed that it was, indeed, a doublet - clearly ancient, but when she pulled it on over her shirt it was also undeniably warm.

"It fits you well," the old man said, nodding in approval as she rubbed some warmth back into her arms. "Keep it, please. For the longest time, I have been struggling to remember my perfect recipe. It keeps me warm just as surely as this does. Have you ever heard of it?"

"There's a great many things I haven't heard of."

"Oh! Well, it's called spicy meat and seafood fry. I could remember meat, hot peppers..."

"Don't tell me you forgot the fish."

The old man shrugged and smiled wryly. "An old man can be forgiven his forgetfulness."

"I suppose," she answered, and found herself smiling back. "And I really shouldn't tease you. All I've figured out so far is the peppers."

"You have a curious mind and a will to experiment! That's an admirable thing and will surely help you regain your memories. In fact, if you don't mind my saying so, I saw you picking mushrooms earlier. A great many of the mushrooms that grow throughout Hyrule have special curative qualities to them, if you cook them up right."

"Really? I'll be sure to keep on experimenting, then." Zelda opened her pack and stared curiously in at the bunch of purple mushrooms. "Later, though. I really should find this last shrine before it gets dark."

"Of course. Take care, Zelda."

"And you!"

She felt his gaze on her back as she headed back down the hill and deeper into the mountains. Yet when Zelda looked back towards him, the hilltop was already empty.

It didn't take much longer to find the shrine after that. Keh Namut gave her some mastery over cold, in the form of being able to freeze water into ice blocks. It let her take a shortcut across the icy cold river, at least, the one that her map quite worrying dubbed the "River of Death". She supposed she would find more of a use for the Cryonis rune it later.

It probably wouldn't be safe to head back to the old man's cabin this late at night, so Zelda headed back down the mountain towards the dead Bokoblins' campsite instead. She was surprised, therefore, to see a shadow waiting for her. It was a familiar shadow by now, however, and so Zelda smiled and hastened down to meet him. "Hello again! I was just coming to find you. That's all four Spirit Orbs, although..." She looked down at herself and chuckled ruefully. "I suppose you'll just have to take my word for it."

"I know you speak truly," the old man said. His face was in shadow with the sun nearly set, but his voice was as warm as ever, though there was a tinge of something else in it that made Zelda swallow. "I know you are an honest and hardworking child. You have now acquired all of the Spirit Orbs from the shrines on this plateau. Oho ho!" But his laughter rang hollow in her ears. "Extraordinary! That means...it is finally time." He cleared his throat, and straightened up a little, and suddenly he seemed somehow more than an old man. He seemed...wiser, and powerful, and suddenly so much less familiar to her.

"Zelda, it is finally time for me to tell you everything. But first...imagine an X on your map, with the four shrines as the end points. Find the spot where those lines intersect. I shall wait for you there. Do you understand?"

She nodded, throat too tight to speak.

"Where two lines connecting the shrines would cross...there...I will...be waiting..."

As he spoke, small orbs of pale blue flame appeared in the air to dance and swirl around him. He seemed to be growing fainter, more indistinct, and Zelda gasped to realize that it wasn't just because of the deepening shadows. He was really, truly fading.

"Wait...!" she called, reaching out. But her hand went right through him, and then he was gone.

Zelda's hands were shaking as she sat down beside the old campfire and tried to rekindle it. It took her a few attempts, but finally she was able to pass the night in warmth and light. Her Sheikah Slate provided more than enough light to read by, as well. She explored a few more of its restored features, including a guidebook of Hyrule that had been restored enough for her to learn about a few more monsters - "Chu-chu's", "Keese", "Moblins"...

More importantly, it didn't take her long to find and mark the spot the old man had told her of. So she would get her answers back in the old temple, then. That seemed fitting, somehow.

Zelda's dreams were troubled when she finally slept that night, but she couldn't remember them when she woke.


	3. Rhoam's Tale

At the least, when she finally stepped past the dead Guardians and through the ruined doors of the temple once more, Zelda finally felt some peace again. She let her steps carry her without much conscious thought back towards the giant statue of the beautiful woman at the end of the aisle. Kneeling down and praying, once again, seemed like the most natural thing to do.

Even when she heard a voice speak to her from everywhere and nowhere, Zelda did not feel afraid. This voice was not the voice that had woken her, the one she wanted to save. But it was familiar all the same, and warm and kind as well.

_"You have done well. In exchange for these four Spirit Orbs, I will give you strength. May good fortune favor you on your journey."_

She didn't move as warmth and light suffused her being. She didn't so much as twitch as power poured forth into her muscles and strengthened her weary bones. She didn't need to react, because Zelda knew in her heart that this was as it should be. She had strived, and she was being rewarded. She would keep on striving if it would give her the strength to save her friend and beat back the Calamity. That, too, was as it should be.

When the moment was over, she got easily to her feet, stretched, and rejoiced at the complete lack of ache in her shoulders. She knew deep down that she still wasn't what she was. She couldn't be. But she was closer, now. These trials, and this smiling face, would help her get there.

"The blessing of the Goddess has made you that much more resilient, I see."

Zelda yelped loud enough to echo around the vast, broken room, flinching sharply. She hastily drew a rusted sword she'd stolen and held it at the ready, until her wits caught up with her and she recognized the voice.

Here I am," the old man called again. She looked up, and saw him looking down at her through a gap in the roof. "Get up here, quickly!"

Nothing seemed easier, all of a sudden. Zelda actually felt quite excited at the chance to test out her newfound strength. She hastened back outside, got a good grip on the ivy climbing the walls, and clambered rather more nimbly up the side of the building than she might have been able to manage yesterday.

The remains of a belltower stood on the roof, only precariously managing to survive there. She wondered where the bell had gotten to, as she clambered over some broken bits of wood and plaster to stand beside the old man and look up at him expectantly.

"Hello there."

He inclined his head to her, though his eyes were shadowed. "Hello again."

"You promised me a paraglider."

"I promised you a great deal more. Now, then." He took a deep breath, and thumped his staff against the roof beneath them. "The time has come to show you who I truly am."

That same blue light came into being around him and swirled about the old man. This time he didn't fade, however. Zelda kept her eyes on him until they watered, and she saw the familiar form blur and change.

When the light faded, an old man still stood before her, but he wasn't the bent and stooped hermit she had come to know. His gaze was fierce and his stance was strong. He wore ornate, flowing robes, and a crown upon his head. She could see that he was still the old man, that this had always been the truth of him. Yet Zelda still felt her heart tremble at the sight of him, and cursed herself for not being able to remember why.

Yet when he looked at her, some of the fierceness in his gaze faded. He simply looked so very sad.

"I was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. I was...the last leader of Hyrule." He turned away from her, then. He looked out across the Great Plateau, and out across the land beyond that she could not see, even up here. "A kingdom which no longer exists. A kingdom which you should have inherited, my dear, dear Zelda."

"What do you mean?" Zelda whispered, barely able to choke the words out. She felt the world spinning around her. Much more, and she would surely fall.

Rhoam looked back at her, and his expression softened. She saw sympathy in his gaze, then, not just sadness. "I know this is difficult for you," he said. "Please, my dear, be patient with me a short while longer. You had no shortage of patience for me in life - far more than I ever deserved. I only need to beg your indulgence a little longer."

Zelda nodded. Her throat was too tight to speak, and there were tears in her eyes. King Rhoam drew himself back up to his full height, and began to speak.

"The Great Calamity was merciless. It devastated everything in its path, lo, a century ago. It was then that my life was taken away from me. And since that time, here I have remained in spirit form. I did not think it wise to overwhelm you while your memory was still fragile. I wished to see how you could recover, and make your own way in this new world. I...wished to see you thrive, without my interference. So rather than that, I thought it best to assume a temporary form. Forgive me. I think you are now ready. Ready to hear what happened one hundred years ago."

Zelda clenched her fists at her side and bit the inside of her cheek, hoping that bit of pain would force her voice to return. It let her force out the two words she needed to say, however. "I am." However painful it was, she wanted answers. She needed answers. Without them, what was the point of any of this? What was the point of having woken up in the first place?

The old man nodded, and she thought she even saw him smile so very briefly. Then he cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and told his tale.

"To know Calamity Ganon's true form, one must know the story from an age long past. The demon king was born into this kingdom, but his transformation into Malice created the horror you see now. Stories of Ganon were passed from generation to generation in the form of legends and fairy tales. But there was also...a prophecy. _'The signs of a resurrection of Calamity Ganon are clear. And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground.'_ We decided to heed the prophecy and began excavating large areas of land. It wasn't long before we discovered several ancient relics made by the hands of our distant ancestors. These relics, the Divine Beasts, were giant machines piloted by warriors. We also found the Guardians, an army of mechanical soldiers who fought autonomously."

Zelda suddenly flashed back to the tangled cluster of mechanical monsters, crowded around the broken walls here and near Ja Baij shrine. She shuddered at the thought, and wondered what could have changed.

"This coincided with ancient legends, oft repeated throughout our land. We also learned of a princess with a sacred power and her appointed knight, chosen by the sword that seals the darkness. It was they who sealed Ganon away using the power of these ancient relics."

Zelda stared hard at the backs of her own hands. They were shaking again. King Rhoam carried on.

"One hundred years ago, there was a princess set to inherit a sacred power, and a skilled knight at her side. It was clear that we must follow our ancestors' path. We selected four skilled individuals from across Hyrule and tasked them with the duty of piloting the Divine Beasts. With the princess as their commander, we dubbed these pilots Champions—a name that would solidify their unique bond. The princess, her appointed knight, and the rest of the Champions were on the brink of sealing away Ganon. But nay, Ganon was cunning, and he responded with a plan beyond our imagining. He appeared from deep below Hyrule Castle, seized control of the Guardians and the Divine Beasts, and turned them against us."

Zelda's mouth opened and closed silently as she warred with herself. She did not want to hear anymore. She knew she had to hear everything. She felt tears on her cheeks as if her skin was not her own, and did not dare look up at Rhoam again. She could not begin to guess what the look on his face might be, and did not know which possibility would be worse.

"All the champions but one lost their lives. Those residing in the castle as well. And thus, the kingdom of Hyrule was devastated absolutely by Calamity Ganon. The princess was gravely wounded in her journey to face this monster, nearly beyond saving. However...the princess' faithful knight survived, to face Ganon alone."

She knew what he was going to say next. That didn't make hearing it any easier. Zelda bit her lip until she could taste blood. Anything to make sure she didn't sob. Anything to make sure she stayed quiet and listened.

"That princess was my own daughter." And now Rhoam's voice was breaking, too. "It was you, Zelda."

She did look up at him, then, and saw his ghostly form through a haze of tears. Zelda wanted nothing more than to run to him and hug him and apologize for slights and transgressions and a failure she couldn't even remember. She stayed where she was, however. She knew she was far too late.

It warmed her heart through the horror of it all to see that her father was crying too, at least. Then he squared his shoulders, and carried on.

"And the courageous knight who protected you right up to the very limits of his power... his name was Link. You fought valiantly when your fate took an unfortunate turn. Link carried on alone in your name, as you were taken to the Shrine of Resurrection. Here you now stand revitalized, one hundred years later. The words of guidance you have been hearing since your awakening are from Link himself, trapped away behind the walls of Hyrule Castle. Even now, he fights against Calamity Ganon, keeping him weakened and contained. However, even his power will soon be exhausted. I know you have heard him calling out for your aid. Once his strength is spent, Ganon will freely regenerate himself and nothing will stop him from consuming our land.”

He reached out to her then, before she saw him catch himself. "Father..." Zelda whispered, finding her voice at last. It didn't matter. He did not falter again.

“Considering that I could not save my own kingdom, considering how I could not even guide my daughter, I have no right to ask this of you, Zelda." He spread his arms and bowed his head. "But I am powerless here. You must save our kingdom. And do whatever it takes to annihilate Ganon.”

She realized with a lurching sort of despair in her chest that he was fading. "Father, please, w-wait..."

“Please, Zelda, let me finish. I...have very little time left."

"You keep saying that and I don't understand!" She hoped she didn't understand. "How are you here, after...after what happened? Why can't you  _stay_? Please, father, this is all so much, I...I don't want to be alone..."

"I know. And I don't want that for you. But you will be stronger alone. Of this, I have no doubt. Or at least...you will be stronger without me to hold you back from your destiny."

"But..." Zelda stammered. He cut her off, gentle but firm. 

"Somehow, Ganon has maintained control over all four Divine Beasts, as well as those Guardians swarming around Hyrule Castle. I believe it would be quite reckless for you to head directly to the castle at this point. Please, do not waste the life that Link obtained for you. Therefore, I suggest that you make your way east, out to one of the villages in the wilderness. Follow the road out to Kakariko Village." He turned away from her and pointed, into the unknowable distance. It was all so vast and dizzyingly new to Zelda that she had no idea how she could possibly remember any directions. "There you will find the elder, Impa. She will tell you more about the path that lies ahead. Consult the map on your Sheikah Slate for the precise location of Kakariko Village. Make your way past the twin summits of the Dueling Peaks. From there, follow the road as it proceeds north.”

Once he had pointed out a landmark, she could see it - two great mountains, standing seemingly side by side, rising up in the distance through the fog that surrounded the Great Plateau. She supposed that if she reactivated more towers, more of her map might repair itself as well. She would discover the way as she made her way along.

“Go on," said her father, drawing her out of her thoughts. "Here is the paraglider, just as I promised.” He pulled it from his back and held it out to her. Zelda took it in trembling hands and stammered out a thank you, only sparing a thought for how strange it was that he could reach out to her in this way at least. She listened as attentively as she could while he gave her a quick lesson in how to use it. He didn't try to tell her not to cry, at least.

“With that, you should be able to safely fly off the cliffs surrounding this area," he said gravely, stepping away from her. He took a deep breath, even though he probably didn't need to anymore. Maybe it was just a reflex or a memory. Maybe it was for her sake. It didn't matter, though - nothing could make this any easier.

“And...I think that's it. I've told you everything I can... Zelda..." He was little more than a smudge of shadow and color in the air, and then he was only a voice. "You must save Hyrule..."

"I will!" she called to him, wherever he was going now. "I will, Father, I swear it! I...I won't fail again! Not ever again!"

Then she was alone, with her paraglider and her doubts and her noisy, ugly tears.

*  *  *

Zelda caught herself hoping, as she trudged back towards the old man's cabin, that he might still be there. It was as if some childish part of her had stuck its fingers in its ears and hummed to drown out the truth of that final meeting. He would not be there, but he _might_ be, what if he _was_ , so many other stranger things had happened and so why not ghosts returning from the dead a second time?

The firepit outside the cabin was cold. The air inside the little house tasted old and stale, as if it had not been inhabited for far longer than one hundred years.

She wasn't about to go jumping off of any cliffs tonight, much as the idea held some emotional appeal. Zelda rekindled the fire and roasted some apples and mushrooms for a meal. She could hear birds cooing in the trees, but didn't trust her archery skills quite yet to be able to shoot one in this poor light, especially with her limited supply of arrows. She would have to think about how to get more, going forward. She had been looting most of her equipment off of dead Bokoblins, but arrows were so useful to _kill_ Bokoblins. Then again, they did seem to be terrible shots.

Her line of thought petered out there. So she wouldn't be left alone in the silence and the emptiness, Zelda deliberately focused her mind elsewhere. She thought again of the old man's advice regarding elixirs and potions. She supposed there was no time like the present to try.

That, at least, eventually kept her occupied for the rest of the night. Zelda discovered that simply cooking the mushrooms in her bag on their own didn't do anything special. Something must be required to "unlock" these vaunted curative properties. There must be some uncommon element involved in "cooking them up right".

Zelda stared across the darkness towards the distant glow of another campfire. It must have been the Bokoblin camp who's scouts she had dispatched before. She thought on how resilient Bokoblins were, how they seemed to be everywhere. Yet whatever dark magic had brought them into this world did nothing to ensure their bodies stayed behind. She had observed that they would fade away to dust and sludge after a few moments of death. There were only ever a few bits and pieces left behind...such as horns and teeth.

Zelda picked up a club and gave it a few thoughtful swings. She took off her quiver and examined the meager contents critically. Then she went and dug through the ancient refuse left inside the cabin, and came up with a wooden shield that hadn't gone entirely rotten. Maybe she could kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

The Great Plateau was a nice place. The least she could do was clean up after herself a little bit, before she properly started on her journey.

Cold certainty strengthened her limbs, and leaden grief quieted her heart. Zelda set off into the night to test some theories.

She returned to the cabin by the light of the rising sun. The old wooden shield was bristling with arrows, and a pouch at her side clattered faintly as she walked with its rather grisly bounty. She had exhausted her supply of purple mushrooms experimenting earlier, but with more light to search by she was able to see that the land around the old man's cabin was covered with green mushrooms instead. She picked some, rekindled the fire, and then - not without a wince - tossed mushrooms and teeth in the pot together. She was not encouraged when what seemed to be raw darkness bubbled from the teeth as if they were overripe fruit, mixing with the natural juices of the mushrooms. But in the end, she poured the resulting concoction into a flask anyway, and sat back.

Zelda stared pensively at it, then stared up at the gradually brightening sky above and offered a toast to no one she could see anymore.

"Cheers," she called, and downed the lot in one.

It was seconds before she felt strength and stamina flooding her limbs, making her heart race. She _needed_ to move, she _needed_ to run. Zelda didn't hesitate to give in to that urge. She leapt to her feet, grabbed up her supplies, and took off at an energized dash in a random direction. She ran until she couldn't anymore. She ran until she saw the edge coming up to meet her - the mist from before had been banished, however temporarily, by dawn's light. Only then did she slowly come to a halt, and found that she was only breathing a little hard after her flight.

Zelda looked back at the Great Plateau. Somehow, over the past several days, it had almost started to feel like a home. She supposed it was the closest thing to a home she had, with Hyrule Castle fallen to such ruin. Now that she had cleared out most of the monsters, it was a peaceful, quiet sort of place.

In another time, in another life, she thought she might have been content to live here - in a simple cabin in the woods, chopping wood for the fire alongside her father, and studying frogs.

Zelda looked ahead, at the world beyond this lonely place, at the horizon she could see through the scattered clouds. She started to run - slowly at first, then faster and faster, until her hair streamed out behind her. Her knuckles were clenched tightly around the handle of the paraglider. She held her hands steady until just the last moment, she kept running until past the last moment, until at last her foot fell on nothing but open air.

Zelda started to fall, but she kept her eyes open and she did not scream. Her hands moved just as she'd been taught how to move them. She whipped the paraglider up over her head and wrenched it open. The wind caught it instantly. She felt a wrench in her shoulders as it was almost torn from her grasp by the unexpected force.

Then the moment passed, and Zelda wasn't falling anymore. She was drifting down, gently as a leaf, through the clouds and away from the quiet plateau. Her feet found solid ground again with what seemed like an inappropriate lack of fanfare. So Zelda folded up her paraglide, affixed it safely to her back, and provided her own.

"Yes! I did it!" she whooped and cheered, jumping up and down and punching the air, feeling the adrenaline from her flight and freedom still coursing through her veins. She was sure that her enthusiasm must be echoing for miles, but that was fine. Let the world know that she had returned, and that Great Calamity would soon finally come to an end.


	4. On the Road

She let that same enthusiasm start her on the road again. It was easy to know where she was going. Hyrule Castle was a looming, dark blot on the horizon that constantly drew the eye. A road ran north in that direction, following the edge of the Great Plateau before she could see it curving away in the distance. Her father had told her to follow the path east instead, towards Dueling Peaks and Kakariko Village. Maybe that would be the sensible choice, maybe that would find her answers. But as far as Zelda could see, answers were no longer her most pressing concern. She had been asleep for one hundred years while her kingdom withered, her people suffered, and her friend fought alone. Zelda didn't know what had happened to keep her away for so long, but the thought of waiting a moment longer to strike back was too much to bear. She would go to Hyrule Castle, she would confront Calamity Ganon, she would fight and this time she would win - especially with Link back by her side.

As to exactly how she would improve matters over the last attempt, well...she knew she had a long walk, and intended to make a plan along the way. If her father was to be believed - and after all he had confessed, she personally believed that he was - fighting Ganon was what she had been born to do. There had to be a way. It would come to her when the time was right. Along the way, whenever the road seemed clear, she pulled out her Sheikah slate to scan through some of the functionality that had been restored by her discovery of towers and shrines. It seemed like it had been scanning some things automatically as she went, and so she was able to relearn the names of certain things. 

Her plans were almost derailed entirely, however, as she passed by a grove of birch trees bordering a river. Zelda stopped to fill up her canteen and rest a while. A few horses were drinking downstream a little ways. She was staring at them, wishing she could catch one and so travel a little faster, when she heard the noise.

It was a horrifyingly familiar noise. It was unmistakably the faint, buzzing whirr and whine of a Guardian on the alert. She would never forget that sound again for as long as she lived. Worse still, that sound was accompanied by another one.

She could hear footsteps - big ones.

Zelda felt frozen to the spot with dread, but she forced herself to lift her head and look back through the trees. Her heart leapt into her throat. Her worst fear was confirmed in seconds. There was a Guardian, patrolling along the path. But this one was whole and undamaged and bright-eyed and _moving_.

"I didn't know they could _move_ ," Zelda whimpered, and then laid herself flat in the grass until the nightmare on six legs finished scuttling on by. The horses whinnied in terror and retreated in all directions. Zelda heard a small explosion up ahead as the Guardian took a potshot at them. If it hit any of the horses, they died before they had the chance to let out a sound again.

One fled right past Zelda's hiding place. A hoof narrowly missed her head. She bit back a yelp, laid still a little longer, then got hastily to her feet and ran after it. She was terrified that every step would be her last, that the last thing she heard would be the rapid beeping of a Guardian taking aim.

But whether she was quiet enough, or whether horses were simply more interesting, Zelda ran as long as she could and was still alive when she stopped for breath.

She didn't follow the path quite so closely from then on. Zelda kept it in sight, especially since her map still didn't extend past the borders of the Great Plateau. She would need to find the tower for this region and reactivate it. Fortunately, after a few more hours she could see one in the distance, glowing bright orange against the blue sky. It was to the north, like the castle, but angled a bit further to the east. Well, that was fine. It was a worthy enough detour. She knew she couldn't exactly infiltrate Hyrule Castle without a map.

Along the way, she saw other orange lights, and eventually discovered more shrines along the way. They were tucked into out-of-the-way groves of trees, standing proud on top of high hills, or sitting out on lonely islands in the middle of rivers or lakes. Piercingly aware of how much time she was wasting but unwilling to turn down any advantage, Zelda visited each and every one. Each one had a puzzle inside waiting for her to solve and, while none of them added new powers to her slate, each one had a mummified monk waiting at the end to reward her efforts with another Spirit Orb. Zelda was unwilling to turn back to the Great Plateau and waste more time even to gain another blessing, but...surely there would be somewhere else she could pray along the way. In the meantime, the shrines often proved safe places to camp out for the night, whether she sat at the top of the steps or even inside their labyrinthine halls. As long as she collected wood herself from the trees outside for a fire so she could cook something up to eat, there were worse places to sleep.

Unfortunately, in the end the Central Hyrule tower itself proved to be well guarded when she finally reached it. Zelda was able to duck or outrun three more mobile Guardians along the way. She could still see them in the distance, out of the corner of her eye, as she jogged up to the base of the tower. She had fallen off their radar for now, but if they happened to wander a few steps in the wrong direction, she knew she would quickly wind up in their sights again. That was all the more reason for her to climb, and quickly.

Zelda laid her hands on the honeycombed surface of the tower and started to climb. She kept her gaze fixed up above, and so saw it clearly when no less than three red targeting sights appeared on the wall above her, skittering towards her.

She was still low enough on the tower that she could probably fall without hurting herself. She could even trust to her paraglider to get some distance away from this place, though that would make her a slow and easy moving target. Zelda didn't even stop to see if the Guardians taking aim could move or not. She just gritted her teeth, planted her feet against the walls of the tower as best she could, and leapt.

Her fingers closed around another handhold as she heard the beams hit the wall beneath her. Zelda winced, fearing the worst, but the tower held. Sheikah technology could stand against its own, it seemed. She grinned in fierce relief, then hastily scrambled up another few feet. The beeps were growing faint beneath her, but she kept her gaze fixed fiercely ahead for more laser sights closing in. As long as she kept moving, she felt sure she could outpace any beams that were fired below. If she accidentally climbed face-first into a firing squad, however, she was doomed.

Zelda managed one more leap that took her up to a platform. She immediately threw herself flat beneath the wall bordering it, curling up as small as she could to hide so much as a hair on her head from the Guardians below. It worked and all was silent for the few moments she needed to catch her breath.

The Zelda took a run at the wall, leapt up it a few feet, and kept climbing as hastily as she could.

She had to repeat the process three more times before one volley of lasers wasn't followed almost immediately by another. In the end, Zelda was panting and aching to a degree she hadn't felt since her awakening in the Shrine of Resurrection as she finally clambered up on top of the tower and collapsed in a shaking heap.

"I'm alive...I don't believe it..."

She moved to carefully rest against a nearby pillar, and ate the last of some spicy meat and seafood fry until she felt a little better. Then she went and got the map from the tower itself.

It didn't paint a reassuring picture. The lands around the castle were just as barren and twisted as she'd feared. The map itself also didn't extend to any sort of blueprint of the castle itself. What might greet her inside there remained a mystery.

"I did used to live there, after all," Zelda murmured to herself, as she sat and plotted out the last of her route. "Perhaps things will start to come back to me, as I get closer."

From up here, she could also see that the Guardian situation was just about as bad as she'd feared. More of the mobile ones patrolled the open area between her and her destination, and she could see more ruined wrecks scattered among the hills and ruins. The three that had nearly killed her down below were silent now in that deceptive way Guardians had. And around the walls of Hyrule Castle itself...Zelda squinted against the fading sunlight. Were those _flying_ Guardians?

Well, the thought of night travel wasn't as terrifying to her as it once was. She could take a rest, have a little more food, then see how far here paraglider would take her. If she dropped down into those woods there, she should be able to cut across the ruins of castle town under cover of darkness and hopefully avoid most of the flying scouts. From there, the moat should provide plenty of hiding places. Perhaps it might even provide an opening inside.

Her mind was filled with the pleasant buzz of a plan coming together as Zelda lit a small fire with a few scraps of wood she'd brought just in case. She roasted some mushrooms and the last of her chili peppers, then laid down with her head on her pack and went to sleep.

As she prepared herself to set off that night, Zelda had to admit to herself that there was an upside to her plan, in the midst of all the danger. That upside was that, quite simply, taking long flights with her paraglider was one of the most fun things she could remember. That might not mean much now, but she was still looking forward to another trip. The floor of the towertop didn't provide quite as much of a good runup, but she still let out a gleeful shout as she leaped out into open air and pulled the paraglider open above her head.

The moon lit her way forward, as the ground flashed past below. Zelda brought herself down in the middle of the trees. She was surprised when her feet landed on stone, and she found herself standing in the middle of some sort of stone circle. Some of the pillars were cracked, and the stone floor she stood on was pitted and broken so that grass and wildflowers grew up through the cracks.

She had seen so much decay and destruction since waking up, but this place was somehow different. Despite being much smaller, it put her in mind of nothing so much as the ancient Temple of Time. It left the same feeling in her chest - a feeling of warmth and familiarity, that here was a good place, and that she was right to stand here.

Zelda stopped right in the middle of the space and looked off towards the castle.

Then suddenly the world around her fell away.

_When she opened her eyes, Zelda was still standing on that stone circle. Yet now it was whole and unbroken, the stone gleaming in the light of the bright, pure sun overhead. She was wearing a fine, draping dress that itched at her skin and was too tight across her shoulders, and her fingers hurt with how tightly they were clenched around the hilt of a sword._

_A boy knelt before her, his eyes downcast respectfully on the ground between them. Four other figures stood behind him, spread around the circle._

_Zelda felt her lips moving. She heard her voice speaking, dull and lifelessly. She knew that the words were meaningless, and yet the speaking of them meant everything. This boy would change everything, and she hated him for it._

_Sidon leaned over to whisper something to Riju without taking his eyes off the two of them. Teba hissed at them both to be quiet. Yunobo wrung his big hands when she saw her gaze drifting towards him, before he tried to smile reassuringly for her._

_Zelda bit back a sigh. They were all her friends, all her dear friends, but they couldn't make this any better._

_"Arise, Champion," she said dully. "And take up the Master Sword, your destiny."_

_The boy got slowly to his feet. He looked up at her, and their eyes met as he reached out for the sword._

And suddenly Zelda was on her knees, gasping for breath all over again as her mind slowly pieced itself back together. Tears were pouring down her face and she could feel her heart breaking, but she was already struggling to remember _why_.

"What was that..." she whimpered. She pressed both her palms against her forehead as though she could press her memories back in. "What happened to me..."

She sobbed quietly for a few moments, sobbed for the life and the friends she'd lost. She sobbed for Link and the time she had wasted hating him. Yet Zelda could not cry for long.

The heavy footsteps of a Guardian approaching was already a sound that she knew would be ingrained into her nightmares. There was nothing that could straighten her spine faster.

Zelda look up, and met the eye of the beast as it lit up with malice. She blinked the tears from her eyes, and saw energy starting to gather there, a beam of death pointed right at her.

She suddenly felt so, so angry.

 _"Get away from me!"_ she howled. Moving purely on instinct and the shadow of memory, she thrust out a hand towards the monster. Light poured for from her hand, and the world went gold, then white, then very, very dark.

*  *  *

Zelda awoke to the feeling of something tapping on her face. She couldn't remember why someone should be doing that, but she didn't appreciate it. Grumbling faintly, she tried to swat the hand away. Someone gasped, and she heard them moving away.

Then she heard them moving closer again. Zelda was already waving her hand irritably in front of her face when she felt the stranger reach out again. This time, however, they did her the decency of speaking. "Are you alive down there, miss?"

"'f course I am," Zelda mumbled, and finally forced herself to open her eyes.

A friendly sort of face swam into view above - a long face, with beetle black eyes and equally dark hair. He stumbled back a bit, startled all over again, as Zelda sat up and groaned. The surprise quickly faded, however, and then he smiled at her. "Ah! I am most glad to see that, miss! But please, this is a very dangerous place to rest. I know the road is long, but trust in me - there are much safer places to rest up ahead!"

Zelda looked around, frowning, and then winced as memories returned to her all in a rush. "I should hope so," she said, hastily getting to her feet and dusting herself off. "Thank you for looking out for me. My name is Zelda. If you could show me where a safe place is, I would be thankful."

"The name's Beedle, but you can call me— Actually, let's just stick with Beedle. But even if you forget my face, you can remember me by my beetle-shaped backpack!" He turned around and, sure enough, she saw that he was lugging around an enormous backpack a little taller than he was, giving him the gait of a trundling beetle if not necessarily the appearance of one. "And absolutely! I was just on my way to the stables anyway. Follow me and I'll see you right!"

She offered him her brightest, warmest smile. "Thank you so much."

It hit her then, as she set off beside him back towards the road, that here was the second person she had ever spoken to since waking up in the Shrine. She was glad to see that he seemed much more real than...than her father had been. She was even happier to see that he might just be a friend.

Beedle wasn't just a traveler, but a traveling merchant. He sold various useful odds and ends that a traveler like herself might meet on the road. Zelda was halfway through listening to his sales pitch and looking through what he had to offer when she remembered that she had no money, and couldn't even entirely remember what constituted money in Hyrule.

Fortunately, even if Bokoblin fangs and keese wings did not count as money, they turned out to have some value of their own and Beedle didn't even bat an eye when she offered them in trade. In exchange, she bought arrows and Stamella shrooms and even some good dried fish to munch on as they walked.

She saw the stables long before they arrived. The building had an enormous wooden horse's head built into the top of it. It was also loaded with people, more than she could ever remember seeing. Just the sight left Zelda feeling a little overwhelmed - not quite to the degree that the Guardian had, but in a way that still made her glad to notice the shrine a little ways up the road. It gave her an excuse to part ways with Beedle for a little while, and make her way to the stables later at her own pace.

Zelda didn't stay unnoticed for too long, however. She bedded down by the fire as the sun set and set to work cooking up some more of her provisions into something more appetizing than jerky and roasted mushrooms. The smell of the food was appealing enough that more than a few people came out to see what she was doing, to introduce themselves and chat about her business and theirs'. Zelda was sorry she didn't have much to offer in the way of conversation. Food, however, proved to provide an easy icebreaker to get around her nerves. A few of her fellow travelers even had rations to share to make the meal more interesting.

As Zelda sat and listened to two talking of their plans to infiltrate Hyrule Castle and retrieve the grand hidden treasures that must surely lay within, she came to a quiet realization. She knew that she couldn't go back there, not yet. The simple fact of the matter was that she was not strong enough to get in there right now. She had killed a Guardian, yes, and the thought gave her a thrill of power and triumph. Yet the land around Hyrule Castle had been swarming with more Guardians than she could count, of sorts she had never seen, and that didn't even take into account what monsters had taken up spot inside the place.

She tried to convey those thoughts to the two travelers. In the end, she wasn't sure she had entirely convinced them, but they were at least leaning more towards the idea of paying someone stronger to go in for them.

"I wish you luck," Zelda said. If they were still hoping when she passed back through here next, she'd be happy to find a cake recipe and some ancient noble weaponry on her way to rescue her friend.

But even if she wanted to make her way in quietly, she needed to get stronger in case that plan failed. She would only have one proper chance at this. _Link_ would only have one proper chance at this. If she failed, he died, and all of Hyrule would suffer.

Link had endured for one hundred years. She had to hope and believe that he could endure a little longer.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him, as she watched the fire burning down. "I'm so sorry. Please, please hold on."

If Link heard her, he didn't answer.

Zelda slept that night in a real bed for the first time she could remember, the set off the next day towards the distant Dueling Peaks.


End file.
